This invention relates generally to recording devices and, more particularly, to an arrangement for recording information relating to an event on a recording medium and for indexing handwritten notes concerning the event to the recorded information.
Before the advent of audio recorders, the average person had to rely on handwritten notes taken while attending a lecture, meeting, interview or similar event for later study or review of what had transpired. However, it is often difficult to concentrate on what is being said while trying to take clear and concise notes. An important point may be unclear, misleading or completely missing in the handwritten notes.
The development of smaller and less expensive audio recorders has led to the increasingly common practice of recording a lecture or meeting without taking notes, or to use such recordings to augment handwritten notes. Use of a recording without handwritten notes, however, means that the entire tape must be reviewed in order to refresh one's memory and insure that none of the important points were missed. Since this may require a great deal of time, many people use the audio recording to augment handwritten notes. The handwritten notes are used as the main source for review, with the recording serving as a secondary source if something is unclear in the written notes. However, it may often be difficult to find the exact section of audio tape pertaining to an item of interest in the handwritten notes without the expenditure of considerable time and effort.
To alleviate some of the problems associated with review of audio tapes, audio recorders are often provided with voice activated circuits and/or speed up circuits. The voice activated recorders compress the amount of information on the audio tape by recording only when activated by sound, thus eliminating silent spots on the tape. Speed up circuits in audio recorders allow the user to listen to the tape at a faster speed, while maintaining intelligible voice clarity. Thus, while improvements have been made in the compression of information and speed of review, the prior art has heretofore not provided apparatus which allows the user to quickly and easily find the section of audio tape that corresponds to an item of interest in the handwritten notes.
The above remarks, and much more of the discussion which follows, are put in terms relating to audio recording technology. However, it should be readily apparent that much of the same is equally applicable to video and other recording technologies. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is not limited to applications relating solely to audio recording techniques.
An object of the present invention is to provide a user of the invention with the ability for recording information relating to an event (such as a meeting, lecture, interview, or similar event) on a recording medium (such as an audio cassette tape), and for indexing handwritten notes concerning the event to the recorded information. When the user subsequently reviews the notes, portions of the recording which correspond to items of interest in the handwritten notes may be found quickly and replayed by simply "pointing" to or otherwise identifying the corresponding portion of the handwritten notes.
This object is attained by an arrangement which includes a recording device for recording information onto a recording medium, a writing surface for receiving handwritten notations, apparatus for sensing relative positions of the recorded information on the recording medium and for sensing positions of corresponding handwritten notations on the writing surface, apparatus for correlating the respective positions of the recorded information to the positions of the handwritten notations, and playback apparatus for locating and reproducing portions of the recorded information in response to identification of corresponding portions of the handwritten notations. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the apparatus for correlating the respective positions of the recorded information and handwritten notations includes a microprocessor which receives, from the recording device and the writing surface, information relating to the relative positions of the recorded information and the handwritten notations on the recording medium and writing surface, respectively. This information is preferably stored in a correlation table. When a user of the present invention desires to review a portion of the recorded information, the position of the handwritten notes which correspond to the desired portion is identified and compared by the microprocessor to the positions in the correlation table. When a match is located, the corresponding position of the recorded information is identified and the selected portion is located and reproduced for review by the user.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention uses an electronic touchpad as the writing surface, a microcassette audio recorder for the recording device, a microprocessor to control the various elements of the device and to perform the indexing function, a keypad for user input and control of the device, and an alphanumeric display for information feedback to the user. This preferred embodiment of the invention is battery-powered and portable, and resembles a slightly enlarged notepad (see FIG. 1).
An electronic touchpad is a flat pressure sensitive device which can generate varying voltages that correspond to the position of a pin or stylus pressing against its surface allowing an external means to determine the position of said pen or stylus. Such devices are manufactured by several companies, including Elographics, Inc. of Oak Ridge, Tenn., their model number E-233-DG being an example.
In the recording mode, the device makes an audio recording of the event on a standard cassette tape. Simultaneously, the electronic touchpad senses the position of the user's hand-written notes on the writing surface, and provides this information to the microprocessor which correlates the record of the positions of the handwritten notations on each page with the position of the recorded information on the audio tape at corresponding instants in time. At the end of the recording phase, the directory of accumulated recorded positions (in the form of a correlation table) is stored on the cassette tape.
In the review mode, the touchpad senses the position to which the user is pointing on a page of notes positioned on the electronic touchpad. This position is compared to the positions in the directory that were identified and accumulated during the recording mode. When a match is found, the device notes the audio tape position with corresponds with the user notation position in the directory, locates the tape position on the cassette tape, and begins playback of the recording.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.